Solana Beach's lifeguards delivered a summer safety update, while the city continues its effort to replace its aging Marine Safety Center.
Solana Beach Marine Safety Capt. Greg Uruburu delivered the update during a city council meeting on October 28, discussing preparations for El Niño season, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Crews Trained for Rain and Rough Water
With El Niño conditions looming, Uruburu said the department was also preparing for the possibility of rainfall, training staff in swift-water rescue techniques and running drills with the full fleet of department watercraft to handle high surf. He added that Solana Beach's beach profile and sand levels looked good heading into the El Niño season, the report noted.
A separate report from The Coast News Group found that, as of mid-November last year, the department had logged 635 rescues for that year, compared with 567 in 2024 and 299 in 2023. That same report noted the department had grown to seven full-time staff after reclassifying two part-time lifeguard positions and one sergeant role, and that six boats made landfall on the Solana Beach shoreline that year.
New Marine Safety Center Still Awaits Coastal Commission
The city is also pursuing a long-running effort to replace its aging Marine Safety Center. The city still needs a Coastal Development Permit from the California Coastal Commission.
The project schedule remains undetermined.
The planned facility is 4,309 square feet, compared with 2,971 square feet for the current building. In December 2024, the Union-Tribune reported the proposed center at roughly 4,300 square feet, replacing an existing facility of about 3,000 square feet.
A Project Years in the Making
The effort to replace the Marine Safety Center dates to 2017, the Union-Tribune has reported. The current facility at Fletcher Cove Park dates to the 1940s. Story poles were used as part of the required view-assessment process.
By this fall, final designs for the rebuilt center had reportedly been approved, with architect domusstudio and the city's engineering department working together on the submission package sent to the Coastal Commission, per the Coast News Group's earlier reporting. A Coastal Commission staff report from July described the proposed development as consistent with past Commission actions in the area and with Chapter Three policies of the Coastal Act, finding it would not adversely impact coastal resources, public access or recreation — though the available excerpt of that report does not capture its full analysis or conditions.
For now, the rebuild remains in regulatory limbo. With El Niño conditions in the forecast and crews already drilling for swift water and high surf, Solana Beach's lifeguards may have little time to catch their breath before the next busy season arrives.
